Denominalizing
Enter your revision in the box below each exercise. Click the “+” below each box to see Dr. Hirst’s revision.
Exercise #1
Unmask the following nouns (choose the verb form that corresponds to the noun) and type your answer in the space provided:
1. employment
• employer
• employance
• employ
• emporium
2. governance
• government
• govern
• McGovern
• governancy
3. expectation
• expectorate
• expectance
• expensive
• expect
4. calculation
• calculus
• calculize
• calculate
• calcify
5. authorization
• authorial
• authoritative
• authority
• authorize
6. transmittal
• transmission
• transmigrate
• transmit
• transmogrify
7. investigation
• investigatory
• investigate
• investancy
• investment
8. administration
• administrate
• administrative
• administry
• administer
9. observance
• observation
• observatory
• observancy
• observe
10. summary
• summarate
• summarize
• summation
• summarization
Now you’re ready to unmask some hidden verbs within the very sentences where they are lurking. Remember: you can spot these verbs in their noun disguises by looking for endings like -ion, -tion, -ization, -ance, -ment, -ancy, and so on. Also, be on the lookout for “fluff verbs,” those dull, superfluous verbs that the writer had to stick into the sentence because he chose to smother, or mask, the real verb.
Exercise #2
Denominalize the following sentences (find the main verb hiding in its noun form and unmask it. Turn it into a direct, vigorous verb). Type your answer below each sentence, then click on the bullet to see the professor’s rewrite. Remember, the professor’s revision is not the only possible answer.
1. The researchers must conduct an investigation into the claims of their colleague.
2. Our expectation was to receive the data earlier.
3. The appearance of the new equipment in the laboratory will not be until June 20.
4. The design department will achieve the illustration of 100 books this year.
5. We have made a calculation that the cell mass will soon increase by 20%.
6. The CEO reached a decision to diversify the company’s holdings and to conduct a negotiation with the Japanese.
7. Our research team will provide documentation for the incubation process and make a determination as to the viability of the new vaccine.
Finally: Denominalize AND change passive to active voice. You’ll see that these two editorial actions work hand in hand to make your sentences more vigorous, clear, and concise.
8. Attempts to purchase the photographs have been made by the company.
(Note: if you’re coming up with even leaner sentences, such as “The company tried to buy the photos,” congratulations! You’re a step ahead of these tutorials. Have patience; we’ll get to “cutting fat” in the next lesson.)
9. There are expectations on the part of the client that she will be served quickly by our employees when she calls us with questions or problems.
10. An appeal has been made by the departmental secretaries for the conservation of paper.
11. A search for the missing piece of genetic code is being carried out by scientists.
12. An agreement has been reached by the members of the funding committee to afford a serious consideration to the proposal.
Very well then. Let’s see you change passive to active voice and denominalize an entire (fictitious) paragraph of struggling prose.
Exercise #3
Type out your revision below the paragraph BEFORE clicking on the bullet to see the professor’s revision (which is, after all, just one of many possible revisions):
The Mexican government is currently being helped by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in the investigation of a serious incident involving radiation poisoning. A truckload of irradiated scrap metal was driven from a dump site at Los Alamos National Laboratory into Mexico City, Mexico last Tuesday; it evidently was not inspected at the border. A determination was later made by PAHO that the truck’s cargo had not received authorization for transport by officials at the lab. A realization of the dangerous nature of the cargo was not reached until dozens of workers at the Mexican foundry where the metal was delivered began to experience symptoms of radiation poisoning. An ongoing investigation into the situation is being conducted by PAHO in an attempt to reach a determination regarding those responsible for the decision to transport the dangerous truckload of scrap metal. In the meantime, Mexico has lodged a complaint with Washington about the incident; our nation’s response has been an apology and a gift of dozens of radiation detection devices.